Too many of my friends and relatives believe this crap. They fail to realize that our own grandparents were marginalized and persecuted for being Italian Catholics. The conspiracies against them have faded into dust now that we've moved on to hating other people. But "too many Irish and Italian immigrants" was the reason for the immigration restrictions imposed in the mid-1920s. In the city where I grew up, Syracuse NY, there was a policy against hiring Italian and Irish immigrants, and no contractor who had these employees was given any work. They were called the NIINA Laws... No Irish or Italian Need Apply.
I often wonder how JD Vance can look his wife in the eye, given that she's Indian and Hindu. What about her parents? Her mother is a high-ranking official at UC San Diego, I believe. So, all this bashing California universities (or any non-Evangelical universities) must strike awfully close to home for her.
As a Catholic convert, he is also a pariah among us Catholics who do not spew his hatred. Let me emphasize that we mainline Catholics do NOT espouse or agree with his screed. We know he is a fake Catholic, as are Steve Bannon and others like him. FAKE CATHOLICS who give the rest of us a bad name.
OK, don't get me going. When I'm on a roll, I can let it all out! LOL
BTW, if you want to read my thoughts on hating immigrants, I wrote a substack about it:
They don't know what religion means! I believe it is the opiate of the people as evidenced as what we see now! I am an atheist and have wonderful values! We all are the same and all have red blood!
I don't know about being an opiate. Religion certainly gives many people a guideline for how to live a good life. Whether they follow it or not is another issue. But I do not believe that any one religion has all the answers. I agree that atheists can have wonderful values. Even though I'm a practicing Catholic, I still have a ton of questions that have no answers. But I try to follow Jesus, and I do love our new Pope!
religions pit themselves against the other religions. One is right, and therefore the others are wrong. And killing is a common ocurrence, along with the perversion of religion for one's selfish aims.
I don't need a religion or belief in an entity to be a kind, moral individual. Seems to me those pushing white christian nationalism in our government need a serious lesson on how to be a good person.
In my experience different faith bodies have outgrown antipathy toward other faith bodies. Often, disagreements are experiened within a given community, as with progressives vs. trditionalists. Ecumenism is more common now than in past. The practical tradition of mutual respect and cooperation has matured and spread. My faith says that God loves us all, whether we are believers or not. As James the Apostle wrote, actions speak louder than words when one is discussing faith. Francis of Assisi told his followers, "Preach the Gospel wherever you go. When necessary, use words."
I too am free of religious doctrine, per se. My mother was raised as a Lutheran and used her teaching with a kind hand. This taught me to see that people can use their religion as a support to find their way through this life. Many people of many religions, as well as people who do not follow a doctrine are good people. And I respect them equally.
Yes, we either have morals or we don't and religion has little to do with that. An Egyptian guide with a PHD from the USA said it best. Religion is to control people!!! It is many years but I really believe he is right.
Absolutely. As a graduate from a "Christian" University, I have pretty much done a '180' on that thinking - I very much believe in the divine source, but *it* has nothing to do with religion. Religion is entirely human-made, with parameters layed drawn from human-made *books* (Bible, Talmud, Tanakh, Quran, etc.)....ALL OF WHICH are designed to provide a framework for CONTROLLING their 'chosen people'. Religion and Politics are just different shades of 'lipstick on the same pig', i.e., humans controlling other humans.
It's All Relative, I am Christian, but I feel as you describe, that people of any background can be a good person and that religion can help people through life as can a secure code of ethics, and a working moral compass, something most Republicans right now have lost or deliberately set aside for the advancement of people who care only for themselves. I, like many people do not want to control anyone or force anyone to do what I want, so I am opposed to war and conflict of all types for the most part. As a teacher of 26 years, I rarely raised my voice; I would rather talk with children and find ways to make our space a positive one for everyone involved. I think I was able to do that for my precious students.
Iʻve always been of the opinion that religion was invented by men to gain power over and control people, a way to scam money and generally take advantage
I was raised Catholic but am too now an atheists. I feel many who proclaim their religion in reality they hide their true feelings. And it is a social network for many.
When I was a kid, I asked a priest a question. Apparently he could not answer and told me to have faith. But I wanted FACTS and that is when religion started to cease. I still want FACTs!!!
Religion is all about faith. Not everything can be explained with our limited minds. Even science has many gaps in our knowledge. Gravity always existed, for example, but we didn't begin to understand it until Newton studied it in earnest. And we STILL can't prove its nature... only its effects.
It is so curious to hear JD speaking of converting to Catholicism, apparently to please his Catholic wife, and then opening his mouth on such divergent issues from Catholicism. I am not Catholic. But my understanding, is that we are to love our fellow human beings, as best we can. And I think there might be something about being truthful, too. :-)
Oh Donna, thank you for correcting me. I see you are right that JD's wife is Hindu. Not sure where I got the idea that she was Catholic? I do know she is better educated than either the president or JD.
I remember a video of djt's inauguration where the camera turned toward Usha Vance when djt introduced his V.P. saying "and his lovely wife Usha" and she had her lips pursed and was rolling her eyes (indicating to me the lie she knew djt was uttering ~)
Sandy, I honestly can't imagine what she saw or sees in Vance. Maybe he is a double personality, something completely different at home than he is in the world. I just heard this evening that he was involved with the plotting surrounding the Epstein Files, held in the "situation room." I am not surprised in general, just upset that it took this long for someone to reveal that Vance is truly the creep I have thought he was since I read his book 10 years ago and heard the evil, stupid stuff he says.
Donna, Vance is an opportunist. He saw Catholicism as a tool he could use in his effort to gain money and power. He either missed or didn't care about the "love your neighbor as yourself" as the way to show you love God. He also missed or shunned the "golden rule" because it gets in the way of ambition. Converts often become the ones who over control others in the faith to match that convert's view of what the faith should be. I have no real idea what Vance believes, but he is no one I can respect!
Hi Donna. Thanks for reminding us about the Golden Rule most of us, in all religions, grew up with. Unfortunately our current crop of GOP billionaires have their own; "Those who have the gold make the rules".
Time to vote all the GOPers and turn that around! Vote Blue... GH
Gary, maybe that is a tactic that Democratic candidates could use against the MAGAs, that they are not living the "Golden Rule" they supposedly hold sacred. Do they really want ICE dragging their family members off the streets and into concentration camp prisons? Would they want their healthcare stopped because an old man doesn't care what happens to them? I bet they don't even think about that at all, they just do whatever that old man tells them to do no matter who is harmed, and the harsher the actions against THOSE people, the more smug they feel while they are anticipating going to "Heaven." Amazing!!
Donna, I like your rolling. It brings out truths that a lot of Americans forget. My grandfather was a vaudeville entertainer, but had to change his name in 1917 when he moved to Philadelphia to work on the circuit. He anglicized our German name to Sheets. It worked for him and two of his brothers. We weren't even at war yet, but it didn't matter.
Weak White men and the women who love them are scared that somehow they will lose their privilege that they nearly always claim they don't have. Vance is that guy. He used being related to some people of Appalachia and proclaimed himself a "hillbilly" while he had no real understanding of the people of Appalachia. After all, he is from Cincinnati, not Eastern Kentucky. I don't know how he got into Yale except that he may have used that hillbilly persona and was given a spot so the school could say they help poor white guys get in too. With so many lies in his life, it is really hard to find out what is true and Vance obviously likes it that way. He is truly despicable, but so is Theil, the guy who masterminded and financed his run for the Senate so he would be in place to be Trump's VP in 2024. Little this crew of white supremacists does is unplanned except the few off-the-cuff whines that Vance and Trump do when they can get away with it.
We the People will have to be the ones who stop them because they can't stop themselves. They are deeply addicted to the money and power their venture provides for them. We are suffering because we can't stop the billionaires who are orchestrating this whole white male BS.
Your ancestors did what they had to do. I respect them for that. I think that too many of us forget that we all come from immigrants at one point or another. Even the people who arrived on the Mayflower were immigrants.
My grandparents came from Austria and met in the US. They spoke German at home but during WW1 grandpa told them not to as the war with Germany was on. He came to escape all the wars.
I remember being set apart and looked down on for being Catholic. It was in the 50's. Didn't experience a lot of bigotry but it was definitely there at times - and it was usually from my childhood peers so am guessing they must have heard some things at home? There were virtually no blacks or Asians in my community. There were a few immigrants - but not many.
As for being Catholic, I definitely remember it was a really big deal when Kennedy was elected. Some were afraid a Catholic president would let the Pope control him. Kennedy was incredibly popular however, and things began to change after Kennedy's death. After that I never felt looked down on for my religion. Too many other things going on - Vietnam, assassinations... and the Flower Children philosophy seemed to have an impact. Through it all we still felt united as a country I recall, and we stood behind our Constitution... and Congress, the President and the courts struggled and disagreed - but, we believed that because of our Constitution and all the safeguards it gave us, solutions would be found. Hopefully the current perversions of our government can be undone soon... and all people can be treated with respect. That is what I learned from my family and my church - citizens or not, people are not to be disrespected or mistreated.
“JP Mandell” is trying to keep away from Dear Leader’s batshit insanity to APPEAR less evil and disgusting. LUCKILY, we are smart enough to know better. With an American house and senate, President Vance and then MAGAmike can be deposed quickly.
Jesus doesn't like it when people are mean and cruel. Jesus doesn't like it when people cause harm to others. Jesus doesn't like killing. Jesus doesn't like it when you beat on and marginalize others. Jesus!
"No dogs, no Irish" were signs placed in the windows of many businesses in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Irish diaspora to the US was created by the British land grab and now there's a problem with people moving to Britain? What goes around comes around...
My nominally catholic grandparents immigrated from the French Alps to Los Angeles around 1920. In the LA area were French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and of course Mexican communities. My grandmother especially was racist against the Mexicans who picked her produce on the farm. The same for the other European immigrants - they all looked down on the basically indigenous Mexicans. And of course, everyone, Mexicans included, discriminated against the African Americans.
Vance seems to be reading from Kremlin talking points. Vance does what Peter Thiel asks him to do. While I hate conspiracy theories, I have to ask if there's some bizarre affinity or even connection between Thiel and Putin's regime. Not investing in Palantir today, at any rate.
Now that Thiel has moved out of the country and apparently fallen in love with Argentina and Javier Milei, whom he shares an interest in the anti-christ with, one wonders what care he gives to JD or DJT. Maybe they are history for him? :-)
David, I do believe there is a connection. Putin probably has hooks in most of the rich whiny white boys who want power they don't deserve, just as Putin wanted it. He will put the word out for folks who can help them and they pretend they don't know where the help is coming from. That is Peter Theil. I wish there were a way to sabotage the entire Palentier industry because it is about doing as much harm to as many people as possible, preferably non-white people, but he'll ultimately take as many down as he can as long as he can remain on top!
Mary--JD is sadly just another in a long line of unqualified people Trump has surrounded himself with. There is a cook that bakes cakes by throwing all the ingredients in a bowl and without doing any mixing she just throws the conglomerate in the oven and hopes for the best. Exact how Trump runs this country. Trump's Park is melting in the dark
JD speaks the language of the regime, lies/obfuscation. The entire GOP has worked for over forty years to get rid of democracy and install a dictator, and weʻre pretty close. JD is just the result of all that work
It’s fascinating that Peter Thiel, architect of Project 2025, is married to a man - and JD is married to a Hindu woman of color. What kind of cognitive dissonance can possibly allow them to be the most bigoted, monstrous haters of “other” - when their own marriages embrace people of other races, religions and sexual persuasions?
There seems to be one common trait among all of Trump's sycophants.
They all appear to be amoral, predatory survivalists, otherwise known as social Darwinists, "survival of the fittest," with the "fittest" being European, white and wealthy or willing to be assimilated into that toxic culture.
Carol,great post and I think you are right. "Social Darwinists" and " Nazis",sounds like an accurate description of what we have. PeterThiel has made his commnet over and over and Curtis Yarvin is totally unhinged. I guess it is not suprising that the " Neon Nazi" party supports those ideas.
I’m not going to get in pissing matches with them. Just not productive. They are, however, leaning towards Sherrod Brown (again). Don’t ask me to explain Buckeye logic-I escaped at 18 in part because they often made no sense to me.
I guess JD has some kind of strange Jeffersonian fantasy that involves creating his own Sally Hemings legend! A strange brand of bigotry, indeed. I sort'a >get< him. I completely >don't< get her!
If you buy that, then why are we at war with Iran. That's "white boy bigot Aryans" against the real Aryans - and who generally have a lot darker skin! - they try to claim to be :
"Aryans" usually refers to ancient Indo-Iranian-speaking groups (Indo-Aryans and Iranians) or historically to speakers of early Indo-European languages; scholarly consensus places their origins in the Pontic–Caspian steppe (the Eurasian Steppe north of the Black and Caspian Seas) associated with cultures like the Yamnaya during the 4th–3rd millennium BCE. From there branches migrated: Indo-Aryan groups moved south into South Asia (into the Indian subcontinent) and Iranian groups moved into the Iranian plateau. Alternative older hypotheses placed an Anatolian or Indian origin, but the Steppe (Yamnaya/Steppe) hypothesis is the best-supported by linguistics and recent ancient DNA.
That's not what Hitler meant when he used the term "Aryan." Usha is of Indian ancestry, and India is country where cast still matters. I have no idea what her beliefs are. Have you read Wilkerson's Cast? a darn good book. What science tells us is one thing; what people chose to believe is something else. Thank you for your clarifying note.
Aye, there's the rub, ain'it? Hitler was just another white boy racist pawning off a fake legend of Aryan racial supremacy to justify his slick little party symbol, hijacked from Aryan culture and bastardized into Norse mythology. (That whole "Gotterdammerung" thing. None of the real, true-believing radical followers ever seemed to have enough collective common sense to realize that they all die in cataclysm at the end of that myth! That's 'cause it's the "Twilight of the Gods" - and they're all a'goin' t'hell!) Of course, MAGgots "don't need no steenking science!" We agree on that "caste consciousness" thing, though. But then, what you seem to be saying - in other words - is that you don't really get her, either. I'm good with that! I'll make sure to look up the book. Thanks.
For everyone who wants Trump removed from office, just keep in mind that Maybelline Boy would become president and be in a position to carry out all the crazy stuff he and the tech bros dream about. I don't believe Vance can win in '28, but he sure could do a lot of damage between now and then if he assumes the reins, including rigging things to assure his election in '28 and '32.
JDV admitted on CNN 9/15/24 that he creates stories when asked about the pet-eating false accusations against immigrants:
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Sen. Vance said. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.”
He wasn’t VP yet. Not sure how he wasn’t disbarred for that, other than purview confusion. He resides in Ohio but is licensed to practice law in Kentucky. Which raises other questions. Along with that warm, public hug of Kirk’s widow.
Vance showed no empathy for Kentuckians in his Hilbillie Elegy. Given his traumatic childhood he unlikely to empathize with anyone. He created a devastating picture of his mother, apparently unaware of the likelihood that she suffered from clinical depression.
I'm sorry but my mother was significantly deficient as well. I have, however, absolutely zero respect for someone who writes a book about his childhood and how he prevailed in spite of his bad mommy. JD is a loser - 100 per cent.
DP, Vance credits the Marine Corps with making a man out of him. This is an important point to keep in mind. The MC is a well funded federal agency, and it did a good job on him. Another well funded federal agency, not necessarily military, Peace Corps for instance, could achieve similar results. We should remind him of this if he remains in government. Thousands of young people, especially, young men, need this kind of assistance.
Like our boy Jim Jordan he does have a law degree but I'm not sure his license is current since he hasn't practiced for many years. Jordan never practiced
As far as the license being in Ky and practicing in Ohio he was in N Ky which is a suburb of Cincinnati.
Unless a lawyer renews according to the state law, s/he cannot practice. So a sheepskin is worthless if not kept up to date. I certainly would only consider practicing lawyers as such, the others are wannabes and useless for legal purposes.
brilliant rhetorical question (“which raises other questions..”).
As a junior doctor, I was taught by a senior doctor to describe complicated chest x-rays: ‘First, partly close your eyes so that your vision excludes all the extraneous stuff, and then you will focus on the most important, pressing abnormalities in the chest x-ray”.
It works with complicated chest x-rays, and I think it works with subterfuge in life too.
The real question is does JD's wife stay around. He has bashed Asian Indians probably more than any other culture. He is a true chameleon. I think his beliefs are skin deep
The Springfield story is totally nuts, but because it is not more than an hour from Vance's home town of Middletown Heaven forbid he should get in a car and drive there.
It looks like Trump has already pulled the plug on Vance. All of his presidential assignments have been chosen with the recognition that he was doomed to failure. Trump is only part of Vance's problem; the deciding issue is that Vance is politically accident-prone. He doesn't seem to understand that video and social media make his contradictions, betrayals and outright lies visible to everyone. It's more likely that Trump will push for formerly "little" Marco Rubio to be the next Republican presidential candidate. That will bring a whole set of new problems to the fore.
JD is definitely intent on becoming president. He was on FOX (Jesse Waters) a couple nights ago taking softball questions about his Christianity his devotion to God, allowing him to make a 20 minute campaign speech of his choice. It was sickening, i had to turn it off. I was mainly confirming that FOX is part of the Republican deep state, not a news station.
And of course Elon Musk and other heavily-online racists have fomented a riot with racist house-burning in Belfast.
They ready to set the world afire, and not for warmth.
Too many of my friends and relatives believe this crap. They fail to realize that our own grandparents were marginalized and persecuted for being Italian Catholics. The conspiracies against them have faded into dust now that we've moved on to hating other people. But "too many Irish and Italian immigrants" was the reason for the immigration restrictions imposed in the mid-1920s. In the city where I grew up, Syracuse NY, there was a policy against hiring Italian and Irish immigrants, and no contractor who had these employees was given any work. They were called the NIINA Laws... No Irish or Italian Need Apply.
I often wonder how JD Vance can look his wife in the eye, given that she's Indian and Hindu. What about her parents? Her mother is a high-ranking official at UC San Diego, I believe. So, all this bashing California universities (or any non-Evangelical universities) must strike awfully close to home for her.
As a Catholic convert, he is also a pariah among us Catholics who do not spew his hatred. Let me emphasize that we mainline Catholics do NOT espouse or agree with his screed. We know he is a fake Catholic, as are Steve Bannon and others like him. FAKE CATHOLICS who give the rest of us a bad name.
OK, don't get me going. When I'm on a roll, I can let it all out! LOL
BTW, if you want to read my thoughts on hating immigrants, I wrote a substack about it:
https://donnamaurillo.substack.com/p/every-generation-has-a-new-target
There are many many FAKE Christians too. You see and hear them spout their hates daily. Religion gives them a cover.
They don't know what religion means! I believe it is the opiate of the people as evidenced as what we see now! I am an atheist and have wonderful values! We all are the same and all have red blood!
I don't know about being an opiate. Religion certainly gives many people a guideline for how to live a good life. Whether they follow it or not is another issue. But I do not believe that any one religion has all the answers. I agree that atheists can have wonderful values. Even though I'm a practicing Catholic, I still have a ton of questions that have no answers. But I try to follow Jesus, and I do love our new Pope!
religions pit themselves against the other religions. One is right, and therefore the others are wrong. And killing is a common ocurrence, along with the perversion of religion for one's selfish aims.
I don't need a religion or belief in an entity to be a kind, moral individual. Seems to me those pushing white christian nationalism in our government need a serious lesson on how to be a good person.
In my experience different faith bodies have outgrown antipathy toward other faith bodies. Often, disagreements are experiened within a given community, as with progressives vs. trditionalists. Ecumenism is more common now than in past. The practical tradition of mutual respect and cooperation has matured and spread. My faith says that God loves us all, whether we are believers or not. As James the Apostle wrote, actions speak louder than words when one is discussing faith. Francis of Assisi told his followers, "Preach the Gospel wherever you go. When necessary, use words."
Some need to be sent to the grey bar hotel!!!
Greedy, grifting, corrupt people!!
We athiests love the new pope too!!!
Sure wish he'd start talking about women priests...
I too am free of religious doctrine, per se. My mother was raised as a Lutheran and used her teaching with a kind hand. This taught me to see that people can use their religion as a support to find their way through this life. Many people of many religions, as well as people who do not follow a doctrine are good people. And I respect them equally.
Same here. I judge whether people follow the Golden rule. If they do that, then I don’t care what faith system they follow.
Yes, we either have morals or we don't and religion has little to do with that. An Egyptian guide with a PHD from the USA said it best. Religion is to control people!!! It is many years but I really believe he is right.
Thus the opiate of the masses!
Absolutely. As a graduate from a "Christian" University, I have pretty much done a '180' on that thinking - I very much believe in the divine source, but *it* has nothing to do with religion. Religion is entirely human-made, with parameters layed drawn from human-made *books* (Bible, Talmud, Tanakh, Quran, etc.)....ALL OF WHICH are designed to provide a framework for CONTROLLING their 'chosen people'. Religion and Politics are just different shades of 'lipstick on the same pig', i.e., humans controlling other humans.
It's All Relative, I am Christian, but I feel as you describe, that people of any background can be a good person and that religion can help people through life as can a secure code of ethics, and a working moral compass, something most Republicans right now have lost or deliberately set aside for the advancement of people who care only for themselves. I, like many people do not want to control anyone or force anyone to do what I want, so I am opposed to war and conflict of all types for the most part. As a teacher of 26 years, I rarely raised my voice; I would rather talk with children and find ways to make our space a positive one for everyone involved. I think I was able to do that for my precious students.
Iʻve always been of the opinion that religion was invented by men to gain power over and control people, a way to scam money and generally take advantage
- Karen Cooper
I agree 100%! It’s all about control!
I was raised Catholic but am too now an atheists. I feel many who proclaim their religion in reality they hide their true feelings. And it is a social network for many.
When I was a kid, I asked a priest a question. Apparently he could not answer and told me to have faith. But I wanted FACTS and that is when religion started to cease. I still want FACTs!!!
Religion is all about faith. Not everything can be explained with our limited minds. Even science has many gaps in our knowledge. Gravity always existed, for example, but we didn't begin to understand it until Newton studied it in earnest. And we STILL can't prove its nature... only its effects.
I feel so left out that atheists don't have a symbol, so I could wear a necklace too!
Is it important?
I was joking- so tired of seeing the cross-wearing hypocrites in government.
It is so curious to hear JD speaking of converting to Catholicism, apparently to please his Catholic wife, and then opening his mouth on such divergent issues from Catholicism. I am not Catholic. But my understanding, is that we are to love our fellow human beings, as best we can. And I think there might be something about being truthful, too. :-)
JD's wife is Hindu. We Catholics often wonder who taught him about our faith because he has plenty of odd ideas about morality and ethics.
Oh Donna, thank you for correcting me. I see you are right that JD's wife is Hindu. Not sure where I got the idea that she was Catholic? I do know she is better educated than either the president or JD.
I remember a video of djt's inauguration where the camera turned toward Usha Vance when djt introduced his V.P. saying "and his lovely wife Usha" and she had her lips pursed and was rolling her eyes (indicating to me the lie she knew djt was uttering ~)
and she looks so sweet. How does she stand him
JD would like it very much if she would convert to Catholicism; he has said this many times. It's probably where you got the idea.
Sandy, I honestly can't imagine what she saw or sees in Vance. Maybe he is a double personality, something completely different at home than he is in the world. I just heard this evening that he was involved with the plotting surrounding the Epstein Files, held in the "situation room." I am not surprised in general, just upset that it took this long for someone to reveal that Vance is truly the creep I have thought he was since I read his book 10 years ago and heard the evil, stupid stuff he says.
Donna, Vance is an opportunist. He saw Catholicism as a tool he could use in his effort to gain money and power. He either missed or didn't care about the "love your neighbor as yourself" as the way to show you love God. He also missed or shunned the "golden rule" because it gets in the way of ambition. Converts often become the ones who over control others in the faith to match that convert's view of what the faith should be. I have no real idea what Vance believes, but he is no one I can respect!
Hi Donna. Thanks for reminding us about the Golden Rule most of us, in all religions, grew up with. Unfortunately our current crop of GOP billionaires have their own; "Those who have the gold make the rules".
Time to vote all the GOPers and turn that around! Vote Blue... GH
Gary, maybe that is a tactic that Democratic candidates could use against the MAGAs, that they are not living the "Golden Rule" they supposedly hold sacred. Do they really want ICE dragging their family members off the streets and into concentration camp prisons? Would they want their healthcare stopped because an old man doesn't care what happens to them? I bet they don't even think about that at all, they just do whatever that old man tells them to do no matter who is harmed, and the harsher the actions against THOSE people, the more smug they feel while they are anticipating going to "Heaven." Amazing!!
How I see the 'Golden Rule' being played out in this - regime - is: 'do unto others BEFORE they do unto you' ~
The couch cougar loves himself the most! He ‘ll be done at the end of this term! He ain’t going anywhere!!
His wife is Hindu!
Texas is loaded with them!
The fakes come out on Easter n Christmas!
Penny, I call those folks "pseudochristians." They like the name because they know they can use it against others, but they can't live the faith.
Donna, I like your rolling. It brings out truths that a lot of Americans forget. My grandfather was a vaudeville entertainer, but had to change his name in 1917 when he moved to Philadelphia to work on the circuit. He anglicized our German name to Sheets. It worked for him and two of his brothers. We weren't even at war yet, but it didn't matter.
Weak White men and the women who love them are scared that somehow they will lose their privilege that they nearly always claim they don't have. Vance is that guy. He used being related to some people of Appalachia and proclaimed himself a "hillbilly" while he had no real understanding of the people of Appalachia. After all, he is from Cincinnati, not Eastern Kentucky. I don't know how he got into Yale except that he may have used that hillbilly persona and was given a spot so the school could say they help poor white guys get in too. With so many lies in his life, it is really hard to find out what is true and Vance obviously likes it that way. He is truly despicable, but so is Theil, the guy who masterminded and financed his run for the Senate so he would be in place to be Trump's VP in 2024. Little this crew of white supremacists does is unplanned except the few off-the-cuff whines that Vance and Trump do when they can get away with it.
We the People will have to be the ones who stop them because they can't stop themselves. They are deeply addicted to the money and power their venture provides for them. We are suffering because we can't stop the billionaires who are orchestrating this whole white male BS.
Your ancestors did what they had to do. I respect them for that. I think that too many of us forget that we all come from immigrants at one point or another. Even the people who arrived on the Mayflower were immigrants.
Only NATIVE AMERICANS are well, native!
actually they moved here from Asia only earlier than our relatives.
Only some did. There was also immigration from what is now South America and Mexico.
not to forget the Norse//Vikings who landed in N America 1,000 years or so before the Mayflower ~ also immigrants ~
My grandparents came from Austria and met in the US. They spoke German at home but during WW1 grandpa told them not to as the war with Germany was on. He came to escape all the wars.
I remember being set apart and looked down on for being Catholic. It was in the 50's. Didn't experience a lot of bigotry but it was definitely there at times - and it was usually from my childhood peers so am guessing they must have heard some things at home? There were virtually no blacks or Asians in my community. There were a few immigrants - but not many.
As for being Catholic, I definitely remember it was a really big deal when Kennedy was elected. Some were afraid a Catholic president would let the Pope control him. Kennedy was incredibly popular however, and things began to change after Kennedy's death. After that I never felt looked down on for my religion. Too many other things going on - Vietnam, assassinations... and the Flower Children philosophy seemed to have an impact. Through it all we still felt united as a country I recall, and we stood behind our Constitution... and Congress, the President and the courts struggled and disagreed - but, we believed that because of our Constitution and all the safeguards it gave us, solutions would be found. Hopefully the current perversions of our government can be undone soon... and all people can be treated with respect. That is what I learned from my family and my church - citizens or not, people are not to be disrespected or mistreated.
Go Donna, spill-the-beans 🤭/ 😂
My substack (link in my post) includes plenty of beans. LOL
Loved your substack.
“JP Mandell” is trying to keep away from Dear Leader’s batshit insanity to APPEAR less evil and disgusting. LUCKILY, we are smart enough to know better. With an American house and senate, President Vance and then MAGAmike can be deposed quickly.
JD Vance is a member of the Corpus Dei which says it all. My uncle a priest call them a cult within our Catholic Church.
Jesus doesn't like it when people are mean and cruel. Jesus doesn't like it when people cause harm to others. Jesus doesn't like killing. Jesus doesn't like it when you beat on and marginalize others. Jesus!
"No dogs, no Irish" were signs placed in the windows of many businesses in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Irish diaspora to the US was created by the British land grab and now there's a problem with people moving to Britain? What goes around comes around...
My nominally catholic grandparents immigrated from the French Alps to Los Angeles around 1920. In the LA area were French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and of course Mexican communities. My grandmother especially was racist against the Mexicans who picked her produce on the farm. The same for the other European immigrants - they all looked down on the basically indigenous Mexicans. And of course, everyone, Mexicans included, discriminated against the African Americans.
and how can his wife take it?is she as warped as he is?
My ancestors left Germany because of persecution only to come to PA only to go thru it again.
Vance seems to be reading from Kremlin talking points. Vance does what Peter Thiel asks him to do. While I hate conspiracy theories, I have to ask if there's some bizarre affinity or even connection between Thiel and Putin's regime. Not investing in Palantir today, at any rate.
Now that Thiel has moved out of the country and apparently fallen in love with Argentina and Javier Milei, whom he shares an interest in the anti-christ with, one wonders what care he gives to JD or DJT. Maybe they are history for him? :-)
He didn’t flee, he’s there to help destroy democracy.
Yes! Thanks
Interesting how Germans flee to Austria. We’ve seen this before.
Did you mean Argentina? I know a lot of Nazis fled there and to Brazil after the war.
David, I do believe there is a connection. Putin probably has hooks in most of the rich whiny white boys who want power they don't deserve, just as Putin wanted it. He will put the word out for folks who can help them and they pretend they don't know where the help is coming from. That is Peter Theil. I wish there were a way to sabotage the entire Palentier industry because it is about doing as much harm to as many people as possible, preferably non-white people, but he'll ultimately take as many down as he can as long as he can remain on top!
Oh David: there’s a fabulous story in there somewhere! Wish we could find out before we die ‘though.
It’s not bizarre at all. Thiel is documented as having used his close friendship with Epstein to get access to Epstein’s high level Russian contacts.
Mary--JD is sadly just another in a long line of unqualified people Trump has surrounded himself with. There is a cook that bakes cakes by throwing all the ingredients in a bowl and without doing any mixing she just throws the conglomerate in the oven and hopes for the best. Exact how Trump runs this country. Trump's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
We don't think that we can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And we'll never have that recipe again....
MacArthur Park. Nice!
Mike--it's timeless..
I love that song and quote those lyrics at every opportunity (that fits).
Yes, they are playing with fire, confident that it will consume others.
How miserable must life be for the world's first trillionaire that he has to resort to silly provocations just to get attention?
The richest man in the world just can't catch a lucky break.
“Can’t buy me love …”
And this is even more terrifying than what has already come to pass. I never thought I would be looking a dystopian future in the mouth.
JD speaks the language of the regime, lies/obfuscation. The entire GOP has worked for over forty years to get rid of democracy and install a dictator, and weʻre pretty close. JD is just the result of all that work
- Karen Cooper
These guys look at dystopian movies and see blueprints.
It’s fascinating that Peter Thiel, architect of Project 2025, is married to a man - and JD is married to a Hindu woman of color. What kind of cognitive dissonance can possibly allow them to be the most bigoted, monstrous haters of “other” - when their own marriages embrace people of other races, religions and sexual persuasions?
Absolutely. And now he has forced his Hindu wife to carry another child because Erica Kirk wanted another one.. will he give it to her?
There seems to be one common trait among all of Trump's sycophants.
They all appear to be amoral, predatory survivalists, otherwise known as social Darwinists, "survival of the fittest," with the "fittest" being European, white and wealthy or willing to be assimilated into that toxic culture.
Carol,great post and I think you are right. "Social Darwinists" and " Nazis",sounds like an accurate description of what we have. PeterThiel has made his commnet over and over and Curtis Yarvin is totally unhinged. I guess it is not suprising that the " Neon Nazi" party supports those ideas.
admirers of Ayn Rand no doubt, and she was an admirer of Nietzsche--until Hitler happened.
I think you are on to something!!
Vance is a very twisted person. I find him more frightening than Trump.
He’s nothing but a shapeshifting grifter.
From what I hear from friends and family in Ohio, they think Vance is a piece of crap. And some of these same people voted for the orange POS.
They also elected Vance as their senator. So how do they explain that.
I’m not going to get in pissing matches with them. Just not productive. They are, however, leaning towards Sherrod Brown (again). Don’t ask me to explain Buckeye logic-I escaped at 18 in part because they often made no sense to me.
JD is indeed a bizarre specimen. And regarding his other half, Usha--what's going on in that union? Is she ok?
Watch for Usha's blinks next time they're together in some news clip.
She voluntarily worked for the very worst - Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts. She’s trash just like Vance.
I guess JD has some kind of strange Jeffersonian fantasy that involves creating his own Sally Hemings legend! A strange brand of bigotry, indeed. I sort'a >get< him. I completely >don't< get her!
maybe she's a proud Aryan.
If you buy that, then why are we at war with Iran. That's "white boy bigot Aryans" against the real Aryans - and who generally have a lot darker skin! - they try to claim to be :
"Aryans" usually refers to ancient Indo-Iranian-speaking groups (Indo-Aryans and Iranians) or historically to speakers of early Indo-European languages; scholarly consensus places their origins in the Pontic–Caspian steppe (the Eurasian Steppe north of the Black and Caspian Seas) associated with cultures like the Yamnaya during the 4th–3rd millennium BCE. From there branches migrated: Indo-Aryan groups moved south into South Asia (into the Indian subcontinent) and Iranian groups moved into the Iranian plateau. Alternative older hypotheses placed an Anatolian or Indian origin, but the Steppe (Yamnaya/Steppe) hypothesis is the best-supported by linguistics and recent ancient DNA.
Or maybe, JD just wishes he were a real Aryan.
That's not what Hitler meant when he used the term "Aryan." Usha is of Indian ancestry, and India is country where cast still matters. I have no idea what her beliefs are. Have you read Wilkerson's Cast? a darn good book. What science tells us is one thing; what people chose to believe is something else. Thank you for your clarifying note.
Aye, there's the rub, ain'it? Hitler was just another white boy racist pawning off a fake legend of Aryan racial supremacy to justify his slick little party symbol, hijacked from Aryan culture and bastardized into Norse mythology. (That whole "Gotterdammerung" thing. None of the real, true-believing radical followers ever seemed to have enough collective common sense to realize that they all die in cataclysm at the end of that myth! That's 'cause it's the "Twilight of the Gods" - and they're all a'goin' t'hell!) Of course, MAGgots "don't need no steenking science!" We agree on that "caste consciousness" thing, though. But then, what you seem to be saying - in other words - is that you don't really get her, either. I'm good with that! I'll make sure to look up the book. Thanks.
Wilkerson's Caste is a fascinating, important book. It turns out that we are not all that different from India. It's a good read, too.
For everyone who wants Trump removed from office, just keep in mind that Maybelline Boy would become president and be in a position to carry out all the crazy stuff he and the tech bros dream about. I don't believe Vance can win in '28, but he sure could do a lot of damage between now and then if he assumes the reins, including rigging things to assure his election in '28 and '32.
JDV admitted on CNN 9/15/24 that he creates stories when asked about the pet-eating false accusations against immigrants:
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Sen. Vance said. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.”
He wasn’t VP yet. Not sure how he wasn’t disbarred for that, other than purview confusion. He resides in Ohio but is licensed to practice law in Kentucky. Which raises other questions. Along with that warm, public hug of Kirk’s widow.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/jd-vance-lies-haitian-immigrants.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/15/nx-s1-5113140/vance-false-claims-haitian-migrants-pets
Vance showed no empathy for Kentuckians in his Hilbillie Elegy. Given his traumatic childhood he unlikely to empathize with anyone. He created a devastating picture of his mother, apparently unaware of the likelihood that she suffered from clinical depression.
I'm sorry but my mother was significantly deficient as well. I have, however, absolutely zero respect for someone who writes a book about his childhood and how he prevailed in spite of his bad mommy. JD is a loser - 100 per cent.
DP, Vance credits the Marine Corps with making a man out of him. This is an important point to keep in mind. The MC is a well funded federal agency, and it did a good job on him. Another well funded federal agency, not necessarily military, Peace Corps for instance, could achieve similar results. We should remind him of this if he remains in government. Thousands of young people, especially, young men, need this kind of assistance.
OMG. The two of them - broken psyches with traumatic childhoods. Can we please elect someone next time who’s reasonably well adjusted?
In his The Republic Plato argued that the individuals who seek power are the ones who are least qualified to hold it.
Fortunately she has been in AA for a while and they have reconciled
Glad to know. Thank you.
Like our boy Jim Jordan he does have a law degree but I'm not sure his license is current since he hasn't practiced for many years. Jordan never practiced
As far as the license being in Ky and practicing in Ohio he was in N Ky which is a suburb of Cincinnati.
Unless a lawyer renews according to the state law, s/he cannot practice. So a sheepskin is worthless if not kept up to date. I certainly would only consider practicing lawyers as such, the others are wannabes and useless for legal purposes.
Kentucky also has a continuing education requirement
Good to know—I thought there was a requirement to be able to practice the law!
So did I!
Jim Jordan never took the bar exam. He might call himself a lawyer or “legal professional” but he’s not a licensed attorney. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/10/24/jim-jordan-didnt-flunk-bar-exam-hes-never-taken-it-hakeem-jeffries-rhodes-scholar-fact-check/71294399007/
Maybe it’s time to call these phony baloney people out and tell their constituents about it!
Thanks ISO..
brilliant rhetorical question (“which raises other questions..”).
As a junior doctor, I was taught by a senior doctor to describe complicated chest x-rays: ‘First, partly close your eyes so that your vision excludes all the extraneous stuff, and then you will focus on the most important, pressing abnormalities in the chest x-ray”.
It works with complicated chest x-rays, and I think it works with subterfuge in life too.
Regards, Anthony
🙏 Thank you for the kind words and like-mindedness!
Thank god JD has the charisma of a doorknob.
Sadly, that is glossed over by a huge Thiel cheque…
The real question is does JD's wife stay around. He has bashed Asian Indians probably more than any other culture. He is a true chameleon. I think his beliefs are skin deep
The Springfield story is totally nuts, but because it is not more than an hour from Vance's home town of Middletown Heaven forbid he should get in a car and drive there.
JD has no beliefs. He's a version of Trump.
This scares me, except then I remember that he went to Hungary and failed miserably!
It looks like Trump has already pulled the plug on Vance. All of his presidential assignments have been chosen with the recognition that he was doomed to failure. Trump is only part of Vance's problem; the deciding issue is that Vance is politically accident-prone. He doesn't seem to understand that video and social media make his contradictions, betrayals and outright lies visible to everyone. It's more likely that Trump will push for formerly "little" Marco Rubio to be the next Republican presidential candidate. That will bring a whole set of new problems to the fore.
JD Vance is to Trump as a pile of shit is to a bigger pile of shit.
Yes 👏👏👏
JD is definitely intent on becoming president. He was on FOX (Jesse Waters) a couple nights ago taking softball questions about his Christianity his devotion to God, allowing him to make a 20 minute campaign speech of his choice. It was sickening, i had to turn it off. I was mainly confirming that FOX is part of the Republican deep state, not a news station.
Praying for flood or blaze to remove f o x!